AAUP Seeks to Limit Transparency Over Climate Science

I have to ask. Is anyone shocked or even surprised by AAUP’s action? AAUP (American Association of University Professors) has demonstrated itself to be just slightly less ideologically corrupt than MSNBC. Politics trumps science, academic freedom, and transparency as a matter of course at AAUP. Such behavior is anti-education and anti-science.

Mann, a current professor at Pennsylvania State University, was widely criticized in 2009 when his global warming research was debunked in the heavily publicized“ClimateGate” scandal.

The AAUP cites academic freedom and the necessity of protecting professors from public scrutiny as reasons for scaling back the agreement. “The university should seek to improve the agreement to better protect scientists from harassment and intimidation,” the letter says.

David Schnare, Director of ATI’s Environmental Law Center, refuted the AAUP’s claim. “There is no adequate means to inspect the ethical standards and behaviors of the faculty of the university without public access to these records,” he said.

Schnare also points out the ATI is under a gag order regarding documents that are exempt from public disclosure according to Virginia open records law. He asserts that ATI and UVa are, “cooperating in a professional manner to insure that the faculty and the scientists are properly protected while meeting the needs of the public.”

This is not the first time that the AAUP has sought to limit transparency in the name of “academic freedom.” In 2009, the organizationopposedthe public posting of course syllabi and faculty curriculum vita in public universities in Texas.

University professors across the country are given free license to espouse their left-wing ideology while under the guise of academic freedom. Are faculty at your university using the classroom to promote a liberal worldview?